by Joe Iconic, Reporter
On March 17, iZOMBIE joins the comic book adaptations and supernatural shows on the CW channel. At the recent San Diego Comic-Con, Rose McIver (The Lovely Bones, Legend of the Seeker, Once Upon a Time) described the show as “a Zombie Comedy Drama Crime Procedural.” Rose plays “Liv” (I see what you did there!), a zombie who works in a police morgue, gains the memories of the brains she eats, and solves murders. Liv’s sarcastic one-liners sets a humorous tone for the series. Her “snark zombie” is in sharp contrast to the shuffling ghouls on The Walking Dead, and likely to amuse the nihilistic soul.
iZOMBIE premieres Tuesday, March 17 (9:00-10:00 pm ET):
The trailer follows the CW formula of relatable characters, smart pacing, and relationship tension, but deviates in interesting ways from the original source material. Chris Roberson (author, Fables, Superman, Masks) created iZOMBIE as part of DC Comic’s Vertigo line of comics. It was an Eisner Award nominee for Best New Series in 2011.
In the comics, Liv the medical examiner was Gwen Dylan the gravedigger. The comics are set in Eugene, Oregon, and the show is set in Seattle, and all indications are that the beautiful Pacific Northwest will be an important part of the story as well as the setting. These changes make sense in making a comic book with only 28 issues to an ongoing series; a police morgue allows for “the case of the week.” Still, fans of the iZOMBIE comic might appreciated a reference to Spot the Were-Terrier.
This series has potential to be the first live-action comic book adaptation to have more episodes than issues. iZOMBIE looks smart, and a perfect fit for the talents of Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas.
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